Hearing held on petition to remove Armstrong council members

Attorneys given two more weeks to review issue

June 26, 2017

A hearing was held Friday afternoon in Emmet County District Court on a petition to remove from office Armstrong City Council members Rhett Hiney, Dan Moore and Patty Thackery.

The petition containing 106 signatures was filed with the district court last month by Armstrong citizen Sheila Linge. The petition says the council members should be removed for willful misconduct in office.

Friday's hearing before Judge Don Courtney was to address concerns by Emmet County Attorney Doug Hansen who is required by statute to prosecute the case for the petitioner. Hansen said the petition as filed was defective in certain ways. He requested the court give him two weeks to file an amended petition.

Armstrong City Attorney Brian Thul represented the three council members. Thul asked the judge to dismiss the case and said the petitioners did not follow the legal requirements for gathering signatures.

He said the petition was filed due to a political decision that Linge didn't like and was not do to any misconduct. Thul said the petition does not contain any of the seven elements for willful misconduct listed in state code.

If the petition is dismissed, Thul said he would be asking for punitive damages from Linge for malicious prosecution.